Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Steelyp t1_iuhw7fe wrote

Reply to comment by olympiamow in Wet spot and crack in foundation after heavy rain by madstar

Absolutely insane to me how important gutters are. As a first time home owner we had a bad hail storm and insurance replaced the roof. But because everyone was getting new roofs there was a lot of shortages/timing issues. Our roof went on but the gutters took another few days to get installed. Murphys Law appeared and a big rain happened and my god my entire house was full of water.

Turns out the previous renovations weren’t done very well and the water was running off the roof down into cracks and plaster and it just poured into our walls and ceilings. After a court case with the roofing company and further insurance claims it ended up being a $80k repair which turned into a $120k renovation. Fuck me gutters are important. Just one of them being directed the wrong way or clogged can cause some serious long term damage.

52

Ok-disaster2022 t1_iuiar5u wrote

If you watch a bunch of videos on building science it's pretty amazing how much science and engineering goes into keeping water out and preventing moisture and condensation from cause rot. The biggest thing I learned is large roof overhangs do tremendous work on extending the life of siding and reducing wear.

24

Steelyp t1_iuizy3p wrote

Any recommendations? Sounds interesting, I know I out 18 inch overhangs on my shed

1

milehighideas t1_iuioowr wrote

Had the same thing happen, they took 3 weeks to get gutters up but it never rains here, expect that week we got the biggest rainstorm in years. Roofing company had to do all the drywall and paint in three rooms. State Farm guy was furious at the roofing boss. Jake got real gangster on them.

8

LateralThinkerer t1_iuild09 wrote

Wait until you find out about expansive soils: https://youtu.be/SW-NoiM726U

TL;DR some soils expand/contract with water content and can cause havoc. Get some long gutter spouts.

3

Ivebeenfurthereven t1_iuiy77i wrote

A big restoration project I'm working on has a 2.2 mile tunnel under a big hill. By far the most difficult civil engineering challenge is the layers of soft clay it passes through.

Canals inevitably leak a bit. This type of clay expands when wet. You can imagine the resultant chaos as the entire tunnel is slowly crushed by the earth around it.

With modern engineering, there must be a way, but hydraulic forces in the soil are not to be underestimated.

3